I know a lot of people think the 2008 campaign was a "failure" because RP didn't win. They wanted instant gratification and anything short of that was considered "failure."
I look at it differently.
In 2007, NO ONE was talking about libertarians. The only time you saw Ron Paul speaking nationally was at midnight on C-SPAN3 making "for the record" speeches to the nearly empty halls of Congress.
When Ron Paul started his exploratory committee, no one took him seriously.
Everyone figured Ron Paul would be one of those fringe candidates who shows up at the first couple of debates, airs his disagreements with the party, raises a few hundred thousand dollars, then disappears quietly long before the first primary. That's what I thought would happen, and frankly, I think that's what Ron Paul thought would happen.
Instead, he went from a complete unknown to a guy who made some noise in the primaries- raising money like no one thought he could, getting major air time on TV, and beating a number of far better known candidates in the primaries.
Remember, the was gaining momentum in a big way in the last couple of months of '07- but the money he raised then came too late to be really effective. That, and the "pushed forward" primary schedule ensured that he wouldn't win the early primaries.
Look at the legacy. Now, Ron Paul can get major press coverage anytime he wants it. He went from an irrelevant C-Span 3 guy to someone who is regularly consulted.
Even though the "Tea Party" has devolved into a neocon morass, we have to remember that it was started by Ron Paul people.
Now, we have other candidates who are libertarian conservatives who have legitimate shots at the US House and Senate (they aren't all perfect, but several of them are good).
That wouldn't have happened prior to the Ron Paul candidacy. So far from a "failure," I look at the '08 campaign as a beginning of better things in the future.
